Rooted in Christ- Part 23- Dead But Alive
Rooted in Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsIn this passage we see that the believer is dead and yet alive in Christ and that there is coming a day in the future when Christ shall appear and in that day the believer will have the opportunity to share in His glory.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Last week we began our study of the second half of the letter to the Colossians. Here, the letter moves from the refutation of the false teachers there to providing positive practical instruction for the believers there.
Last week we explored the fact that we are risen with Christ and how that reality should affect how we live our lives. We should fix our ambitions and aspirations not on worldly successes but upon those things which have eternal significance. This will only be possible as we sever our affections for the things of earth and instead fix our affection upon things above.
Tonight we will examine the fact that we are dead but yet alive in Christ. We will explore the death that is here spoken of as well as the fact that our life is now “hid” with Christ in God, and finally we will explore the future that awaits all those who are in Christ.
The believer is...
Dead (Vs. 3a)
Dead (Vs. 3a)
One might imagine that as the believers read what Paul had wrote to them under the inspiration of the Spirit of God they may have wondered at this statement “ye are dead.”
It is obvious that a physical death is not what is in view when this statement is made, rather it is the death that the believer has died when he/she came into union with Christ by faith.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We spoke of this verse last week as it pertains to how we live but now let us examine the beginning of the verse and the relating passage in Romans 6:1-7.
Here we have a fuller explanation of the death which is spoken of here. This death is spoken of as a past event that has already taken place, thus the statement “ye are dead.”
What impact then does this reality have upon the believer?
The believer is dead to sin, meaning we are no longer in bondage to it and it has no power over us because of our union with Christ and His death.
In Romans 6:6 we find the statement that our old man is crucified with Christ and that the body of sin is now destroyed so that we are no longer servants to sin.
By this death, we have been set free, the bonds of sin having been broken by Jesus Christ.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
We have died to sin, self, and to the world so that we may now have the freedom to live for Christ. The believer must recognize this present reality and then choose to live unto Christ and no longer unto themselves.
The believer can rightly say that he/she is now dead, because the old man is dead with its fleshly desires and now we live unto Christ.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Have you died? Are you instead still trying to hold onto your life?
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
…and yet the believer is...
Alive (Vs. 3b & 4a)
Alive (Vs. 3b & 4a)
There is a wonderful truth which is stated here when Paul writes under the inspiration of the Spirit of God that our life is “hid with Christ in God.”
We are dead and yet at the same time we know a life that the unbeliever cannot comprehend or recognize.
The word hid here means to conceal from view for the purpose of safekeeping
This statement is spoken with regard to the fact that the spiritual life which we now live by our union with Jesus Christ is not something that the unbeliever can understand or relate to for it is hidden from them.
There is also an emphasis here upon the fact that the life which we now have is safe and secure because of the fact that it is hid with Christ in God.
This is reminiscent of the statement which Jesus makes in John 10:27-30- no man can pluck us out of His hand.
The life which we have now is eternal life and it is absolutely secure because the keeping of it has been delegated to Christ not ourselves.
Eternal life cannot be lost or stolen or forfeited because we are in Christ.
While we are on the subject of this life we must also consider the statement that is made in the following verse that Christ “is our life.”
There are a number of senses in which this statement is true. Jesus Christ is quite literally the source and sustainer of all life as has been stated earlier in the letter.
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Yet the emphasis of this verse because of its context is something deeper. Primarily that the focus and center of the life of every believer is Jesus Christ.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
We may easily understand this statement if we illustrate it by another means.
Illustration- Friend for whom Michael Jordan was life. Everything that he did revolved around looking like, playing like, and collecting things relating to Michael Jordan.
In this same sense for the believer, our lives should revolve around looking like, behaving like, and being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The believer will one day be...
Glorified (Vs. 4b)
Glorified (Vs. 4b)
That life which is now hid will one day finally be revealed. There is coming a day when Jesus Christ shall appear and in that day we shall appear with Him and we shall share in His glory.
We who have been united to Christ by faith have been glorified with Christ but this glory has not yet been revealed, but there is coming a day when it shall be.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
What a wonderful future we have to look forward to through our union with Jesus Christ!
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
This is true of every believer who has come to Christ by faith. We shall each share in this future glory when Christ finally appears!
Conclusion
Our union with Christ in His death and resurrection is so much more than a great spiritual truth, it is of great practical significance in how we live out our lives upon earth.
Are living as though you are dead?
Can it be said of you that Christ is your life?
Are you anxiously awaiting the day when that which is now hidden is finally revealed and you have the opportunity to share in Christ’s glory?
We must choose to live in light of these truths if we are to live as we should in this world.